Samba 4.22 brings SMB3 Directory Leases support, Himmelblaud authentication, and more

Samba has released version 4.22 of its Windows interoperability suite for Linux and Unix, introducing several key updates and improvements. One of the notable enhancements is the support for SMB3 Directory Leases, which allows clients to cache directory listings, potentially reducing SMB requests depending on workload. This feature is controlled by the new global option smb3 directory leases and is enabled by default on non-clustered Samba installations.

Another significant update is the introduction of a new parameter, client netlogon ping protocol, which allows Samba to use TCP. This enables Samba to operate in environments where firewalls block port 389 or UDP traffic to domain controllers.

Additionally, Samba 4.22 introduces experimental support for Azure Entra ID authentication through himmelblaud, providing basic authentication capabilities. The update also includes an enhancement to the LDB index cache size, significantly speeding up certain offline operations that require large transactions.

As part of the update, some legacy features have been retired, in line with the ongoing development and improvement of the software.